Washington, DC natives and childhood friends Rob Elwood and Brendan Sullivan started Headfirst in 1996 with the vision of providing top-notch sports and summer camp programs for kids in the Washington, DC area. Years later, Headfirst’s award-winning day camps have earned the reputation as the best summer camps in DC, Bethesda and McLean, making a difference in the lives of thousands of young campers while providing them with exceptional summer experiences they will remember for a lifetime.

Rob and Brendan first met when playing on the same Little League team in 1984, and have been close friends ever since. After attending St. Albans School and playing on multiple teams together, Rob went on to play football and baseball at Amherst College, while Brendan headed off to Stanford University and pitched on the Cardinal baseball team. After college, Brendan was drafted and played with the San Diego Padres organization, while Rob worked in the Operations Department of both the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians.







Throughout the years they both took every opportunity to coach and teach children. It became evident that both Rob and Brendan shared a sincere passion for teaching and coaching kids not only about athletics, but also about the responsibilities and life lessons that accompany playing on a team. In 1996, they founded Headfirst with the idea that every camper, player, counselor, coach and family attending Headfirst would take away the lessons and experiences of having positive energy, maximizing effort, leading, learning, building self-confidence and most of all having fun. Effort over results is the philosophy upon which Headfirst was built. Their slogan says it all: “Play Smart. Have Fun!”